Complaint Review: Bishop Enterprises

Court prevents Plenty of Fish scammer from wriggling off the hook in $100k judgment

OTTAWA A judge has denounced the behaviour of an Ottawa contractor who bilked a former girlfriend and business partner as fraudulent, dishonest, shameful and hurtful.Ontario Superior Court Judge Peter Annis made the comments in granting a motion that ensures a $100,000 civil judgment registered against Kevin Bishop will survive any
future bankruptcy.Annis said he issued the order in light of threats by Bishop to declare bankruptcy if Ottawas Julie MacArthur ever tried to collect on the judgment.Bishop did not appear in court to defend the action.This
is at least some accountability, said MacArthur, 45, a single mother who lost the bulk of her life savings due to her involvement with Bishop.I have a huge, long road ahead of me; every day I wake up, theres some new financial difficulty that I face because of what happened.MacArthur, who met Bishop through the Plenty of Fish dating website, began seeing him in November 2009.At the time, MacArthur maintained a healthy bank balance, having sold a
Brockville triplex. So when Bishop told her his contracting business was in financial trouble, she loaned him $20,000.In late January 2010, they went into business together with MacArthur buying an investment house that Bishop agreed to renovate. The partners were to share the profits when the house was sold.

In an affidavit filed with the court, MacArthur said she later discovered that Bishop had previously declared bankruptcy and that his contracting business had been officially dissolved in 2000.MacArthur said Bishop purposefully gained access to her finances using the guise of a legitimate contractor.He presented himself as a contractor with a business name, number and GST  number right from the beginning, she said in the affidavit.The initial misrepresentation and false documentation has resulted in my financial ruin.MacArthur hemorrhaged money during the renovation of her investment property.

 Bishop pocketed money that was supposed to go to suppliers, and demanded more for his own business and living expenses.In the first four months of their business partnership, MacArthur loaned Bishop $40,000 based on the future sale of the investment property, according to the affidavit.When Bishop failed to complete the renovations,
MacArthur had to sell her own house and move into the unfinished investment property with her teenaged daughter, Paige.Bishop also moved into the house.Their relationship broke down for good after MacArthur discovered that Bishop
had been using her credit card and withdrawing money from her personal bank account.The respondent (Bishop) continuously refers to it as borrowing, MacArthur said in her affidavit. However, I call it theft.

Last year, MacArthur won a $100,000 civil court judgment against Bishop, but she has not been repaid any of that money.I n court, MacArthurs lawyer, David Debenham, argued that bankruptcy laws are meant to assist people who have incurred debts because of poor judgment or bad luck, not fraud or dishonesty.Debenham said Bishop embezzled money from MacArthur by using her credit card, and misappropriated more money through their business arrangement.Judge Annis granted the motion, saying: The facts set out in the affidavit provide uncontested evidence of the fraudulent, dishonest, shameful and hurtful behaviour of the respondent (Bishop).Bishop has previously told the Citizen that he acted in good faith in both his romantic and business affairs with MacArthur.In January, he said he was on disability because of his arthritis and unable to pay MacArthur back. Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizenhttp://theidater.com/2012/06/29/ottawa-contractor-kevin-bishop-guilty/